Police said a man admitted to sawing the legs off of the body of his girlfriend after they smoked methamphetamine and she died.
The Benton County Sheriff’s Office said they were called to a home of 60-year-old Edward A. Bagwell in Ambia, Indiana, on July 3. A friend of Bagwell’s called police after he allegedly told them that he had dismembered his 61-year-old girlfriend Rita Spigner, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Police said that Bagwell admitted to them that he used a chainsaw to dismember Spigner after immediately asking them if he was going to go to prison.
Deputies said they found something that felt like a human corpse inside garbage bags when he searched Bagwell’s home.
Bagwell was interviewed at the Benton County Jail by Indiana State Police detectives and told them that Spigner had lived with him at the home for eight years.
He allegedly told them that he smoked methamphetamine with Spigner on June 18 and slapped her when she began to scratch his legs and refused to stop. According to his account, she fell and began to convulse but stopped moving when he returned from looking for his phone.
He allegedly claimed that he didn’t call the police because she was already dead, and he instead cut her legs off with an electric chainsaw. He also reportedly admitted to stuffing her body parts into garbage bags.
An autopsy found that Spigner had severe heart trouble but the cause and manner of her death won’t be determined until results of a toxicology test are completed.
Bagwell has only been charged with abuse of a corpse and a failure to report remains, but police are still investigating the matter. He is being held at the Benton County Jail on a bond of $300,000.
Here’s a local news report about the incident:
In Benton County, man admits to cutting up girlfriend with chainsaw
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